Combination adjustment.



No. 837,483. v PATENTBD DEC. 4, 1906. Tl E. LUTZ. COMBINATIONADJUSTMENT. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII PT. 27, 190e.

lll'llllun Ily :num nl 'HIV K nu muuu UNITED STATES PATENT oEErcE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 4, 1906.

Application filed September 27, 1906. Serial No. 336,451.

T0 @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE E. LUTZ, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Galion, in the county of Crawford and Stateof Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCombination Adjustments, of which the following, taken in conjunctionwith the drawings, is a full, clear, and concise specification.

My invention relates to adjustable connections for the operating pipelines or rods by means of which railway-track appliancessuch asswitch-points, signals, &c.-are operated; and it consists of a devicefor insertion in said line or for connecting adjacent sections thereofwhich may be readily adjusted to vary either the effective length of theoperating-line or the extent of movement of the moved element, or both.

The invention also involves features of improvement in the constructionland relative arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fullydescribed, and more particularly pointed out in the accompanying claims.

Several forms of my invention are shown in the accompanying drawings,wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation, with parts in central section, ofa connection adjustment embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a modifiedform. Fig. 3 is a modification of the device of Fig. l for directapplication to the operated track appliance, and Fig. 4 is a connectionadjustment of simplified form.

Referring to the above drawings, it will be understood that the deviceas a whole is intended to be connected by its ends to the adjacent endsof two sections of the operating pipe-line and that the means wherebysuch connection is made is entirely immaterial to the present invention.It will also be manifest that it is immaterial which section of thepipe-line be the moved or operated element and which the moving oroperating element. The device comprises a main cylindrical casing 1,which forms the support and preferably, also, the inclosure for theadjustable parts. .The casing of Figs. 1, 2,'and 4 has a reduced portionor tang 2 extending from it in substantial alinement with its bodyportion, which tang is adapted to be connected, as above mentioned, witheither the moved or the moving element, and the other parts areadjustably mounted in axial alinement with the tang 2, so that when thedevice is installed the connected elements form a continuous straightline, and the connection adjustment being thus very easy of instalmentis likewise unlikely to cramp or bind or to wear unevenly, inasmuch asit is subjected only to endwise strains.

The bolt 3 has its head 4 contained within a chamber within the casing1, and the tang end of the bolt extends without the casing forattachment with either the movinO or the moved element, as aboveexplained. The head4 is confined within the chamber of the casing bymeans of a tubular screw-plug 5, which surrounds the body of the boltand, with its inner end, provides an adj ust able abutment for limitingthe movement of the bolt-head within the casing. A second tubularscrewplug 6 forms the opposite abutment for the head 4, and the twoplugs may be adjusted relatively to each otherv and may be also bodilyadjusted with respect to the tang 2 of the casing.

In Fig. 1 the two plugs are connected so that they may be convenientlyturned in unison, the one being contained within the other, and thebolt-head or' lost-motion chamber, formed between the interior end wallof the hollow plug 6 and the inner end of the plug 5, is adjusted orvaried in length by screwing one part upon the other. In this manner byvarying the amount of lost motion of the head 4 in its chamber thestroke or extent of movement of the moved element is adjusted. Thebodily adjustment of the two plugs, and hence ofthe bolthead chamber, iseffected by utilizing the screw-thread connection between the casing 1and the outer abutment-plug 6, and thereby the effective length of thedevice may be lengthened or shortened. The means for turning andadjusting the screw-plugs consists of the hexagonal or angular terminals5 and 6 of the plugs 5 and 6, and it will be 0bserved in the form ofFigs. 1 and 8 that the said operating-terminals are both located at thesame end of the casing, where their ready manipulation is facilitated. Alock-nut 7 may be employed for binding the plugs together, and anotherlock-nut 8 may be employed for securing the outer plug to the casing. Inthe form shown by Fig. 2 the tubular screw-plugs 5 and 6a are relativelyadjustable to vary the length of the bolthead chamber between them byreason of their threaded engagement with the casing, the threads of eahplug being preferably of opposite pitch, as indicated. rIhe tang ofV thecasing in this gure is formed ofl a IOO IIC"

threaded bolt or rod 2a, screwed into the tu-` bular abutment-plug 6aand locked therein'by means of a jam-nut 8a. By means of thislast-mentioned connection the length of the operating-line may beadjusted, and it will be observed that the operating parts are allbrought into axial alinement.

na lateral flange 1a, which is adapted to be fastened to the tie-rod ofa switch-point or to any other track device. The construction andarrangement of the bolt and screweplugs, however, are similar to that ofFig. 1 and are designated by the same reference characters.

In Fig. 4 the stroke adjustment is made by screwing the plug 5 into thecasing 1, and the length of line is varied by screwing the tubularmember orv jaw 6b upon the bolt 3, which is threaded for this purpose.The head of the bolt plays between the end of the abutment-plug 5 andthe bottom or end Wall of the casing 1, and the screweplug 5 is lockedto the casing by means of a jam-nut 7 a.

In all of the foregoing forms it will be observed that the twoadjustments of stroke and length of line are both combined in a singleunitary device which can be readily located at any point in theoperating-line without disturbing or offsetting the connectedpipe-sections. It can be substituted for the ordinary turnbuckles toserve the same purpose and also the additional function of adjusting thethrow of the operated device. It is also to be noted that the cavity orchamber in which the bolt-head plays is slightly larger in diameter thanthe opening of the screwthreaded passage in which the screw-plug islocated, and likewise the head of the bolt, which is preferably integralwith the body thereof, is of less diameter than the said screw-threadedpassage, so that in cases of extreme separation of the plugs thebolthead will not be likely to encounter the tops of the threads, so asto mar them. The cas-l ing 1 may be formed as a complete inclosure forthe adjustable parts, or, if required, may be made of skeleton form,with openings in the sides through which the adjustable parts may beinspected and oiled. Other forms of locking -means for the screw-plugsmay also be employed within the scope of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byUnited States Letters Patent, is-

1. As a connection adjustment for the The means `whereby the severalplugs may be turned,

operating-lines of track appliances, a device comprising a hollow casingprovided with a connection tang extending in substantial alinementtherewith, a tubular abutmentplug adjustable within said casing andforming a lost-motion chamber therein, in combination with a boltpassing through said plug having its head within said chamber and ascrew-thread connection inde endent of the parts forming the chamber,'orvarying the effective length of the said device.

2. In a connection adjustment for the operating-lines of trackappliances, a main casing, a headed bolt contained therein, adj ustablescrew-plugs forming opposite abutments for the head ofthe bolt withinthe casing and adapted to define the extent of movement of the movedelement, in combination with a screw-theaded connection adjustableindependently of the adjustment of said abutments for varying theeffective length of the operating-line.

3. In a connection adjustment for operating track appliances, a maincasing having a lost-motion chamber adjustable within the same Aand ascrew-threaded passage of less diameter leading thereto, in combinationwith a tubular plug threaded into said passage, a bolt passing throughsaid plug and a head on saidbolt of less diameter than said threadedpassage', contained within the said chamber.

4. A connection adjustment for the operating-lines of track appliances,comprising in a unitary structure, a headed bolt adapted to be connectedwith one of the elements of the operating-line, adjustable abutments onopposite sides of said head adaptedto determine the extent of movementof the moved element, in combination with a main casing IOC for varyingthe efective length of the operating-line.

5. In a connection adjustment for the operating-lines of trackappliances, a headed bolt and abutments on opposite sides of the headthereof adapted to be adjusted for varying the extent of movement of themoved element, in combination with a casing and means for bodily movingsaid adjusted abutments with respect to the casing, to vary theeffective length of the operating-line.

6. In a device of the kind described, a headed bolt, two connected plugsforming adjustable abutments for the head of said bolt, a casing andmeans for adj ustably securing said casing to one of said plugs.

7 In a device of the kind described, a main casing, a headed bolttherein, a tubular screw-plug forming an adjustable abutment f for thehead thereof, a second tubular screw'- ISO headed bolt, a tubularabutment member adapted to receive the head of said bolt, a secondabutment member surroundin the bolt and screwed into the other, in comination with a casing screwed over said firstmentioned abutment member.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to the specification in thepresence of tWo Subscribing Witnesses.

THEODORE E. LUTZ.

Witnesses C. H. HENKEL, BERTHA GREBE.

